Paying dues monthly via cc

[Kurby]

Just got off the phone after trying since monday to get through - another rant

and asked about paying the dues monthly on credit card instead of once a year (right after christmas) and was told that no we'd have to open a u.s. bank account (which doesn't work for us right now)

but she did say that she has been asked that before and unless a lot more members bring it up they wont change it.

so if you want to pay your dues monthly on your credit card i suggest you start calling and voicing that opinion

 

[DebbieB]

There is probably more expense involved in credit card billing monthly vs direct debit.

 

[Chuck S]

Yes, CC processing fees could be high. However, here in TX, you can pay taxes with CC, but they charge a service fee. Maybe MS will do that in the future, monthly CC billing with an added service fee.

 

[drag n' fly]

That is crazy. We paid our yearly dues by CC and we live in Alberta but you cannot pay monthly? The fees were high though so I would not recommend it if you can pay an other way.

 

[CarolMN]

That is crazy. We paid our yearly dues by CC and we live in Alberta but you cannot pay monthly? The fees were high though so I would not recommend it if you can pay an other way.

Not sure what you mean by "the fees were high". Do Canadians have to pay a fee to use a credit card?

I pay our annual dues with a credit card. There are no additional fees to pay. The amount due is the same no matter how I pay.

 

[Kurby]

she might be referring to the lump sum that gets billed in January.

our's was almost 1000 bucks. which is a lot when it's right after Christmas.

too bad they made it January and not June.

 

[Chuck S]

Perhaps there is also an International Monetary Conversion fee. I know when I use my CCs in Mexico there is an additional processing fee added. It usually isn't much, but it is a percentage of the out-of-country charges.

 

[Caskbill]

Just so you know, you can set up automatic monthly bank drafts, and then when you have more money to spare, pay off the remaining balance via credit card, at any time.

If dues are $1200 ($100/month), and money is tight right after Christmas, set up monthly drafts. Maybe $100 in January, $100 in February. Then you get your annual bonus. Charge off the remaining $1000 in March using your credit card.

Just a thought.

 

[Caskbill]

Perhaps there is also an International Monetary Conversion fee. I know when I use my CCs in Mexico there is an additional processing fee added. It usually isn't much, but it is a percentage of the out-of-country charges.

Chuck, did you get any letters regarding the Class Action Lawsuit regarding the CC banks overcharging the processing fees on international transactions?

We're getting about $25 back.

(I know, the lawers are getting the 'real' money, but it's going to happen whether I put in my claim or not...which was simple, all on-line)

 

[Chuck S]

Chuck, did you get any letters regarding the Class Action Lawsuit regarding the CC banks overcharging the processing fees on international transactions?

We're getting about $25 back.

(I know, the lawers are getting the 'real' money, but it's going to happen whether I put in my claim or not...which was simple, all on-line)

No, I hadn't heard about that. Like I said, my fees were pretty small, I think I paid about $10 in conversion fees last year.

 

[Anal Annie]

Just so you know, you can set up automatic monthly bank drafts, and then when you have more money to spare, pay off the remaining balance via credit card, at any time.

If dues are $1200 ($100/month), and money is tight right after Christmas, set up monthly drafts. Maybe $100 in January, $100 in February. Then you get your annual bonus. Charge off the remaining $1000 in March using your credit card.

I think Kurby was saying since they're in Canada they would have to establish a bank acct. in the US for them to do it - and that's not really an option for most people.

But anyway, I have a question about doing this early pay-off thing. We currently have our dues taken out of our bank account monthly but I was thinking if we got enough of a tax refund this spring maybe we could pay off the balance. But then what happens for dues for the next year? Do we have to contact MS to set it all up again or will it just resume on its own? I don't like the idea of having to hassle with setting it up all over again.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

There is probably more expense involved in credit card billing monthly vs direct debit.

Yes, but not much. The biggest expsense with a cc payment is the interchange fee (1 - 2% that goes to Visa/MC/AmEx per transaction). That dollar amount is going to be the same whether you pay it annually in one lump sum or montly. There's also a transaction fee, but it's just cents per payment. With all of the transactions Dis does in the parks, trust me...they are getting a sweet deal from their 3rd party payment processor and Visa/MC/AmEx.

Knowing Dis and their systems, here's my guess:
1) They lose their ROI. If I pay in one lump sum, Dis can invest that money the rest of the year. If I pay monthly, they lose that opportunity.
2) The "how." Since the rest of Dis operates as a retail outlet, they probably run our dues payments through a point of sale terminal (or the swipers you see in the parks). Those aren't set up for recurring payments. They'd have to contract this service out for a fee, have someone do it manually each month per member or build it into their system, which I'm sure would be costly.

This will be an uphill battle that will take many member requests. MFs aren't a commodity. It's not like we're going to take our business elsewhere if we can't pay monthly by cc. Other than customer requests/complaints, there's little benefit to Dis to add the feature other than customer sat.

I will be one requesting year after year, though!!! I like my cc rewards! Good thread!

 

[Chuck S]

I think Debbie was saying that there may be a bigger expense for DVC to do a monthly credit card billing than bank debits. The credit card fees charged to the companies, like Disney, can be fairly high (I'll bet Disey has a good rate, though) But any fees involved would have to be either paid by the person who owns the card, or included in what we pay for accounting services, thus upping everyones dues slightly.

 

[drag n' fly]

I will elaborate on what I said. Yes we live in Alberta and financed through DVC. We had annual dues coming up and first payment and we had received nothing in the mail. I was able to finally get all the needed information online once dues were uploaded to the site. To cover us off, we paid our dues by credit card. We were charged an additional 15 US dollars for international processing fees. We also made our first payment by CC and were charged 24us dollars for international processing fees. Which was weird because it was way less than the annual dues. We only did this to make sure our account was in good standing because we were booking a Christmas trip. Our payment coupons showed up a week later. It is a slip that you can mail with your payment to avoid the steep cc fees. Obviously we will be doing that from now on as we do not want the hassle of opening a US bank account.


This has nothing to do with fees however we discovered something interesting this week.

We are in the process of possibly moving as we have outgrown our house. We went to the bank to work out how much house we could afford. Even though the DVC does not go on your credit file up here we have to disclose that we make the payment each month. Just thought I would throw some more info in the pot!

 

[Caskbill]

No, I hadn't heard about that. Like I said, my fees were pretty small, I think I paid about $10 in conversion fees last year.

It's not just last year. It covers about 10 years worth of 'overcharges'. The minimum anyone gets is $25. That's for anyone who spent $5000 or less over the affected time period. If anyone has records showing they spent more, then they can file for more.

 

[yxe dad]

Most Canadian CC's will charge a 2-2.5% currency exchange fee, so on a $1000 annual dues bill we will get charged that $20-$25 fee plus the current exchange rate.

drag n' fly, is that what you meant or did DVC add on an international fee?

 

[mamatojon]

But anyway, I have a question about doing this early pay-off thing. We currently have our dues taken out of our bank account monthly but I was thinking if we got enough of a tax refund this spring maybe we could pay off the balance. But then what happens for dues for the next year? Do we have to contact MS to set it all up again or will it just resume on its own? I don't like the idea of having to hassle with setting it up all over again.

Ours resumed automatically this year with a monthly debit, last year I paid the remainder of the dues balance in March. So in my experience, no hassle at all.

 

[castleri]

Chuck, did you get any letters regarding the Class Action Lawsuit regarding the CC banks overcharging the processing fees on international transactions?

We're getting about $25 back.

(I know, the lawers are getting the 'real' money, but it's going to happen whether I put in my claim or not...which was simple, all on-line)

Just curious about this - we got a letter about it but since the only time it might have been used out of the country was during a cruise I just threw the letter away. Should we have done something about it?

 

[Jeremy&Susan]

You should have sent it in and gotten your $25 dollars.

This was a Citibank thing. It looks like the almighty bank again was stealing from their customers and charged them above the legally allowed amount to use their card in a foreign country.

The class action lawsuit allows you to either just get the $25 back or show proof that you were charged over that amount and then get whatever you were charged in excess of normal fees back.

Citibank had to cover their Billions of $ in bad loans somehow

 

[Chuck S]

You should have sent it in and gotten your $25 dollars.

This was a Citibank thing. It looks like the almighty bank again was stealing from their customers and charged them above the legally allowed amount to use their card in a foreign country.

The class action lawsuit allows you to either just get the $25 back or show proof that you were charged over that amount and then get whatever you were charged in excess of normal fees back.

Citibank had to cover their Billions of $ in bad loans somehow

OK, that explains it. I have a citibank card, but never used it in Mexico. I used a different card.